When it comes to the gun debate on the heels of the Colorado movie theater shooting, the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting and various other shooter tragedies, schools are scrambling to find the best way to prevent a similar attack. The issues lie in both how to respond to a mass murderer and how to prevent people from becoming violent in the first place. As voters, UCSD students can voice their opinion on gun control, but UCSD as a whole can make a direct impact on reducing these violent tirades by increasing our attention on student mental health and knowing how to shut down a shooter, should the situation arise.

Everyone seems to have their own opinion on how to prevent shootings. There are Obama’s gun control proposals that include strengthening federal background checks for people attempting to buy guns, or on the other side, attorney Tom Horne’s idea to create a law that would allow each Arizona public school to train and arm one faculty member.

For UCSD, a seemingly more practical course of action would be something similar to San Diego State University’s shooting survival seminar last Wednesday. According to Sgt. Doug O’Dell of the UCSD Police Department, this seminar went beyond telling you to hide under your desk and close your blinds. Instead, it addressed the action to take when in the room with a shooter and taught people how to swarm or cause distractions. This training was given to officials from school districts and universities in San Diego County, Los Angeles and Bakersfield, but this education would be great to expand to student bodies. A similar two-day seminar may not be feasible, but we could provide students with literature on how exactly to “distract” a gunman or disorient him or her long enough for help to arrive. It could be empowering knowing that the situation doesn’t have to be totally helpless.

Another possibility that could help students at UCSD is a stronger emphasis on maintaining mental health. With midterm season lasting from week two until the day before finals, UCSD students hardly get a breather from stress. Luckily, UCSD has Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS), free of charge for students when they need it. But anyone who has tried to get a CAPS appointment knows that there is a waiting period that will likely extend past your next midterm and even into next quarter. On the UCSD Confessions Facebook page, one person admitted that after “working up the courage” to call CAPS to aid with their depressed thoughts, the earliest appointment was in two months. The post has 115 likes, suggesting that getting a CAPS appointment is a familiar problem. This in itself is a huge problem in cultivating a mentally healthy and happy campus. And it really is no wonder, with 25 senior clinical staff and seven post doctorate fellows posted on the UCSD CAPS website as the complete team; that is approximately 740 students per mental health professional. Admittedly, CAPS looks to address these problems through 24-hour hotlines where students can speak to someone at the CAPS central office any time of the day. The problem is that a hotline is much less personal and is generally seen as something to use “in an emergency” rather than a more preventative measure.

While there is a huge divide on whether we all need a gun in our glove compartment, or increased regulation on the right to bear arms, one thing for sure is that students need to be ready, both for life’s great challenges and a possible attack. If we focus on the wellbeing of our campus, then that is our first line of defense.